“When I was in kindergarten, I did not know what a book was,” a quiet fifth-grade student in Cheryl Bickle’s class recently wrote. “My teacher read books to the class. Then when I got into first grade, I started reading. Then I liked reading.
“Here I am in fifth grade, still reading. I will not stop reading.”
Staff members encourage self-reliance and perseverance at Portland’s Community Transitional School, or CTS, a private nonprofit school serving pre-K through eighth-grade students experiencing poverty and homelessness. That self-reliance and perseverance have been crucial as students and staff continue the uphill trek to normalcy following the end of pandemic restrictions.
CTS on Northeast Killingsworth Street, an essential resource for local families living in shelters, cars, motels, temporary housing and those staying with friends, is all the more important as homelessness becomes more prevalent. Multnomah County’s 2022 Point-in-Time Count documented 5,228 adults and children sleeping outside or in a shelter. This count — which the county and independent experts agree is an undercount — does not include people temporarily sharing housing.
The homelessness crisis hasn’t spared school-aged children. According to Oregon Department of Education data from 2020, the most recent year available, 1,109 Portland K-12 students are homeless.
At CTS, children benefit from the academic support and stability of the community and peers with shared experiences.
Bickle is the principal to the school’s 76 enrolled students, in addition to being one of four teachers on staff — all of whom students refer to by their first names. Paid assistants provide individual instruction in the mixed-grade classes, which range from 10 to 26 students each.
Bickle, who teaches third through fifth grades, has been with the school for 33 years.
“A lot of people have made it in this world because education was a way for them to get out,” Bickle said, adding she hopes her students will go on to complete high school and attend college or find a trade.
For CTS students, being with other homeless children reduces the stigma of poverty. Jennipher Cochourer, who teaches a class of 13 middle school students, said the peer support is incredible.
“I am astounded at how much the students help and encourage each other,” Cochourer, who’s taught at CTS for 30 years, said. “If someone gets 100% on a test, other students react with ‘Way to go! You did it!’ and smiles and high fives.”
Cochourer had students write letters to each other when they were out of school in 2020. The correspondence helped them get to know each other before they finally met in person. The correspondence also helped students understand others were going through the same things they were, Cochourer said.
That level of community is what CTS is all about, but building community was challenging when students returned for full days to classrooms March 2021 during the 2020-2021 school year, especially with COVID-19 distancing protocols.
Students still ate lunch with their desks spread apart in their respective classrooms last year, aside from the once-weekly cafeteria visit as part of a rotation.
Students’ stamina and attention span were low, and they were behind academically and socially, Bickle said. Extending the school year with summer school helped. The five-week program meets for half days and provides structured activities while filling in learning gaps that often happen during time off from school. Summer school has always been mandatory for students in third through eighth grade in order to keep their spot for the fall.
While CTS staff undertook several initiatives during and after COVID-related distancing in an effort to keep students engaged and supported, the transition back to traditional in-person learning was both gradual and, at times, slow-moving.
It took a while for middle schoolers to do group work when they returned to school without distancing protocols this fall, Cochourer said. Students since made progress listening to each other, communicating needs and speaking up to offer thoughts and ideas.
Despite COVID-related difficulties disrupting normal operations, children were excited to return to school and teachers have not reported many behavioral problems.
Cochourer said her students take excellent care of their supplies — the majority of which are donated by businesses, church groups and individuals — and there are never problems with graffiti or garbage. If a student borrows a book from the class library, they return it.
“These kids respect and care for their school and dream of being able to give back when they are older,” Cochourer said.
Cochourer has 90% attendance in her class of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. All but two of her students’ parents attended conferences in the fall. Many students in her class stay in touch on social media even if they move, which isn’t uncommon.
About 50% of students stay at CTS for more than one year, but enrollment typically fluctuates. Some go back and forth — they may leave if their family moves and return later. Most come from East Multnomah County.
Living with poverty and homelessness means CTS students often have gaps in their education and may lack things like access to books or the stability of growing up in the same neighborhood. Teaching students at their own level gives some continuity to their learning. The school also helps provide for gaps in resources like food and clothing by accepting donations and distributing the items to students. The school serves daily breakfast and lunch all year via the USDA school meal program.
CTS creates its own curriculum emphasizing basic skills for math, reading and writing, which may look different from public schools focusing on Common Core State Standards. But at CTS, like at any school, students are expected to turn in homework and complete classwork. Report cards go out twice a year.
A foundation of learning starts in the lower grades, like in Akina Kawauchi’s class of 20 students ranging from kindergarteners to second-graders.
A few second-graders had not been to school before the year began. Some may have been in kindergarten when the pandemic started and did not return until now. Regardless, Kawauchi said, the environment is helping them thrive.
“The kids are happy and learning,” Kawauchi, who’s taught at CTS for 11 years, said. “They find community and friends here.”
First-graders typically don’t know how to read when they begin, but they will learn by the end of the year. Kawauchi finds it most rewarding to see them grow and appreciate each other every day. She looks forward to the spring when all their learning comes together and everything connects. It is an exciting part of the year as it all falls into place.
The rewarding aspect of seeing children progress is something Bickle is rather familiar with.
“They find a belief in themselves as capable writers with valuable life stories to tell,” Bickle said. “It doesn’t happen overnight, and they need time.”
That type of progress and belief was on display during a recent partnered reading session which students in Bickle’s class can also use as an opportunity to complete unfinished work.
A student had papers spread out on his desk, neatly writing a final copy of his story. The assignment was to write about a time when students experienced disappointment. He bent over the paper and colored in the illustration, pausing to admire his neat handwriting, undistracted by the activity around him.
Bickle said the student has been with the school for three years. When he first arrived, he spoke no English.
“Beginning sometime last year, his English began to grow in leaps, and so did his writing,” Bickle said. “Then he began to write about his experience crossing the border.”
The story he worked on in class detailed a time his family went to Oaks Park, and the day did not turn out as they hoped.
Bickle encourages students to take learning seriously and challenge themselves to do well. She knows their stories and has spent years working with children who have experienced trauma because of their experiences with homelessness.
No matter where they go when they board the school bus at the end of the day, Bickle emphasizes CTS students are treated like regular kids. This is a place where they belong.
Fourth-, fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders recently read the Langston Hughes poem, “Mother to Son,” about a mother giving advice to her son. After class discussions about metaphors and language, they wrote papers reflecting on the poem.
“Like the son, my life has not been a smooth climb,” one student wrote.
Another student wrote, “Even if it’s hard and your stairs are steep, never give up.”
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